BETA GAMMA STATE
CHAPTER PRESIDENT REPORTS
APRIL 2017 CONVENTION GTM
President’s Report, Zeta Chapter 2016-17
- AWIAC Shelter support
-- In November, 20 members attend the AWAIC Shelters Gala
n Paid for two tables which amounted to a $5,000 donation
n Several members bid on silent and live auction items, further contributing to the AWAIC Shelter
-- Ongoing Support: volunteer with sorting donations; every meeting members bring items based on whatever current needs AWAIC has to the meeting to donate to the AWAIC shelter
- Community Outreach
n Chevak -100 boxes of canned soup plus mini-care packages for the village elders
n Akiak – hundreds pairs of socks, winter clothing, and school supplies in response to the fire
n Continue to support Clare House and Covenant House
- Communications Team
n Launched our chapter website
n Created two Facebook groups: one for DKG members wanting to get together for social activities; one for sharing information on educational legislative issues and current trends in education
n We have created a chapter email to maintain continued communication with chapter members and scholarship business.
- Spring ZETA Retreat
n Attended by 14 members; one new member to be initiated in May
n New focus on programs for meetings presented by Jeanne Fiske and overwhelmingly accepted by members: each committee will be responsible for organizing a meeting based on the work they are doing.
- Scholarship – We awarded a $4,000 academic scholarship for 2016-2017 to local student attending UAA. She has decided to open her own home cleaning business; therefore, we are currently seeking a new recipient for at $4,000 scholarship. Must be a HS girl, attending an AK university seeking a degree in education. The application is open to all AK school and is on our Zeta Chapter website - deadline is May 12th at 5pm.
Eta Presidents’ Report
GTM, April 22, 2017
Eta began the year with an informal get together at Co-President Lynn’s home in Girdwood. Eta has monthly meetings, so we met in September to prepare for the year. October was a busy month with the teleconference and the Mini-Grant Breakfast, where four (4) $250 grants are given to deserving teachers by the Area Council (Eta, Nu, & Zeta). In November we had speakers from Alaska Workers’ Association, an entirely volunteer group that helps workers that might otherwise fall through the cracks. In December we had a lovely meal and heard from Barb Dexter, head of the Child-in-Transition/Homeless Program with the Anchorage School District, our yearly project which we have supported for many years. In January we heard from the principal of one of the new charter schools with the district, STrEaM, in February we toured the Crime Lab, and in March we met and chatted with the new Superintendent of the Anchorage School District, Dr. Bishop. We implemented Dr. Schmid’s method for inviting new members to join the chapter and will install three new members in April. The Anchorage Area Council will also have a Bunko Nite to meet with other DKG members of Anchorage chapters. Our yearly fund raiser is a garage sale in May/June to make money for CIT (Child-in-Transition/Homeless) and our Grants-in-Aid.
Report – Beta Chapter
In May, 2 new members were initiated. We had our largest fundraiser, our annual flower sales. And for fun, our “social” bicycle riding group started riding around town every week. Our Beta Educational Scholarship Foundation, the non-profit arm of our Beta Chapter awarded scholarships/grants-in-aid of $1,000. each to 5 UAF Education students and $500. each to 2 students. Our foundation offers the opportunity for contributors to realize a tax write-off where appropriate, and allows us to tap more sources for possible fundraising.
Beta Chapter started the biennium in August with an overnight retreat. Marilyn Mount from Theta Chapter facilitated. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed interesting activities and we even got a good deal of work done!
We decreased the number of meetings this year to 4. Missing a recording secretary on our board, we implemented “Secretary for a Day”. For each meeting, a member volunteers to take the minutes and write them up. It has worked well.
In September, we introduced a “buddy” system, Dr. Lyn’s membership plan, and started a project of collecting toiletries (typically coming from hotels) for the local women’s shelter. Approximately 50 much needed bags of “goodies” were delivered in October. Also in October, we chose Michelle Bartlett at the UAF Summer Sessions program to receive our “Friend of Education” Award. We toured the newly remodeled Ryan Middle School for our meeting program
We had socials in December, (a Christmas party, luncheon, and fund raising auction) and February (we attended a hilarious play and then enjoyed an enjoyable dinner at a local restaurant together).
In March, Beta had a joint meeting with the Beta Educational Scholarship Foundation board members. New BESF officers and board members were chosen. Plans were made for the FNSBSD Speech Contest which is organized with the assistance of Beta Chapter and preparations were made for our flower sale fundraiser. A new member was initiated, and for our continuing health education, we learned about doing Pilates while sitting in a chair.
Dropped members – 4
New members – 3 and if all goes according to plan, 2 more members will be initiated in May
Co-President of Theta Yearly Report, submitted by Tanya O’Brien
During the summer months our Chapter had 2 social events that were combined with a great learning experience . Both were followed by our “Pot Lucks”, on the beautiful deck of member Aldean Kilbourn.
In June we visited the Family History Center, which is operated for the convenience of all denominations by the LDS Church. We were taught how to access and use their computers and files to assist with tracing the genealogy of our families. It was well attended and very enlightening.
In the early part of August we were given a tour of the Ruth Burnett Sports Fish Hatchery, which was excellent. Our guide was doing his internship from UAF and he was knowledgeable , friendly and aware of any special needs some of our members may have. We opened this visit up to others in our community with the hopes of attracting some new members. It was a big success.
Our first regular meeting was in September and it was mainly administrative, collection of dues, updating files and folders, addressing new committees and welcoming one member who was returning to Theta after a 2 year hiatus , and another member that was transferring from another Chapter.
Our Second and Third meetings were both held at different venues in Fairbanks, firstly in October we enjoyed a presentation by Michelle Harter, head librarian in charge of digital resources who taught us One Click Digital, a fantastic, free ebook&audio book program presented by our library.
The third meeting in November was at the Morris Thompson center where Cindy Schumaker showed us the center, had the cabin outside opened up so we could explore one of the original homes from old-time Fairbanks.
We still do our yearly bus signs, Books of Rhymes for the new mothers, Education grants for those working with our kids, Scholarships. The grant recipients present there projects to Theta at the February and March meetings.
The highlight of this year is getting 2 new members, both still teaching to join Theta.
Respectfully submitted,
Tanya O'Brien
Epsilon Chapter by Gara Cesefske
This year Epsilon Chapter has awarded a mini grant to a teacher in the fall. The winning project was to create peace poles on the high school campus to encourage communication between multiple cultures. This year our chapter also will be awarding a mini grant to a community organization that contributes to education. This is the first year that we have done this and are excited about expanding the mini grant program. We meet once a month, and our goal this year was to have a guest speaker from a community group at every meeting. We feel this has helped us spread our mission in the community and learn about other groups who support our students. This year we recognized three members of the community during our Red Apple Award ceremony. The group they were affiliated with is KYI (Ketchikan Youth Initiatives). We felt they deserved recognition due to their efforts to support youth led activities and contribution to creating a building with no cost dedicated to KYI. We also offered our yearly Grant and Aide to a college student going into education. Our last get together of the year is going to be planted baskets and trading with each other.
NUChapter Vision
Teach|Together–Educate–Appreciate–Connect –Help
President Report Summer2016- March 17
Colleen Brown & Jane Lister
Every activity Nu Chapter participates in is completed with purpose using our vision as noted above.
Together
Summer: Our executive board met for a robust planning session.
Educate & Help
August: Chapter members participated in the Eagle River backpack giveaway. During this event, members signed up 11 new families for Imagination Library and distributed paperback books for children of all ages.
Appreciate& Connect
September: Our first meeting was energizing with the organization of committees, introduction of potential members and Member Spotlight. This activity connects our current members with each other. Members fill out a fun information form which is chosen and read at a future meeting. This activity has been a great way to recognize our NU members and learn an interesting tidbit. NU also created teacher appreciation gifts that were distributed to local schools in our community.
One of the highlights of this month was a walk for AlS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. We joined with Gruening Middle School in honor of our past president and friend Kathy Adamich. Our team had the largest participation and the local organization awarded us a gift card to Target. We passed on this gift card to Love INC, a nonprofit in Eagle River/ Chugiak area that helps families in need.
EducateAppreciateConnect
October: Orientation was held for potential new members. A meeting was held several weeks after and three new members were initiated and one person renewed her membership. A presentation was given by one of our members who is chairperson of LOVE INC, a local nonprofit that supports families in the Eagle River/Chugiak community.
ConnectHelp
November: As part of our vision of HELP, NU chapter volunteered for Thanksgiving Blessing, which is a community event that distributes food and offers prayer and support for families in the Eagle River area.
Together& AppreciateConnect Help
December: NU sisters joined together for festive appetizers, drinks, and a fun sing-a-long with chimes. A silent auction was held and proceeds went to cover funeral expenses for a family in need. Chapter sisters also donated socks and underwear to our annual “Foot and Fannie” basket. These items are donated to Child In Transition, an Anchorage School District program for homeless families.
TogetherEducateAppreciateConnectHelp
January: Birchwood Camp was the location for our First overnight retreat. It was met with such success that we plan to make this a yearly event. The retreat included a presentation by Read on the Fly, a nonprofit that donates books to children from infant to 18. The purpose is to promote literacy and to encourage reading on the plane. Children are able to keep the book for their own personal library. After the presentation, our sisters were treated to line dancing, a campfire sing-a-long as well as stories and delicious meals. Our event ended with card making for our Cares Committee.
Educate& Appreciate
February: Members learned how to make tamales, had a book talk on A Man Called Ove and labeling many books donated to Read On The Fly. A tribute was read for a former member of our chapter who passed away.
Together
March: Our executive board had a productive planning session.